A Mission is Undertaken
by orpsgod
Summary: Based on Jennifer Lynn Weston's Abducted story. Read it if you haven't yet! Then read this please.
1. Chapter 1

Based on Jennifer Lynn Weston's Abducted story

A Mission is Undertaken

"This'd be it then." Jack whispered to James and Mare.

"So it would seem." James responded, not at all happy that Mare had insisted on accompanying them on this part of the mission rather than wait for them back at the motel. He had been more than glad to have her come along on the mission as moral support, and she had been extremely helpful during the few weeks they had been here doing preparatory research on their 'subject'. But he hadn't foreseen, although he probably should have given the temperament of the woman in question, she would insist on coming with them when they did the actual breaking in to the building and removing the documents they were charged with acquiring. Not that on the surface it seemed to have the capabilities of turning into a life threatening situation, although James knew there was always that possibility with any mission, and there was the very real possibility they could be caught and arrested and lodged in the local jail. Something James didn't especially want to experience let alone worry about Mare going through if it did come to that. He was brought rather rudely back from his thoughts by Mare smacking him on the arm and whispering, "Back to the present if you please James." Then following Jack's lead and rising up a little to creep from the bushes they were hiding in she grasped James' arm and pulled him along behind her to the side of the building they were about to break into.

Jack quickly flattened himself against the side of the building motioning Mare and James to do the same. James rolled his eyes and uttered a soft yet sarcastic 'Oh please' as Jack started to exaggeratedly inch his way along the wall, garnering another smack on the arm from Mare, although this one was accompanied by a little smile.

"He is intolerable at times." James whispered to Mare as he made a face at Jack's antics.

Mare's smile widened a bit as she whispered back, "As are you."

"Indeed!" James huffed in return although there was a smile quirking at the corners of his mouth.

"Oye there! Are the two of you coming or are you going to stand there and make moony faces at each other while old Jack does what needs to be done?" Jack stage whispered at them from the corner of the building.

James leaned over and gave Mare a peck on the cheek, "I suppose we had better humor him, otherwise we take the chance of him pouting at us for the next week."

Mare giggled a bit as she gave James a return peck on the cheek then Jack a thumbs up sign as she and James, hand in hand, stealthily moved over to join him.

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Dwane Fogle sat on the park bench tossing handfuls of birdseed to the pigeons, every once and a while scooting his glasses back up his nose with his finger. The wisp of a smile on his face was one he reserved for this special time, it would never appear while in his cramped lab at the chemical company he worked for or when he was home in his small apartment. Those times were spent working on calculations and formulas or going over calculations and formulas. The only time he felt happy and content was the hour or so each day he made a point of coming and feeding the birds. Dwane never went out with friends because he had none. Ever since he was young people had judged him 'strange' and kept their distance. Momma said it was because he was 'too smart' for them, but when he looked in the mirror all he saw was strange too. That's one reason the park and the birds became so important in his life, they didn't see strange, they didn't judge him, they just ate his birdseed and cooed welcomingly to him.

"Fair little park ya've got here. Mind if I sit down?" Jack said as he walked up to the bench.

Dwane briefly looked up, pushed his glasses up his nose, then looked back at the birds at his feet, "It's a public bench." although his tone stated he felt otherwise.

"I'm partial to sparrows myself." Jack said as he sat down and tried to start up a conversation and got only a slight grunt in return. "I'm Jack." Jack said holding his hand out to shake the other man's. Dwane gave a quick sideways glance at Jack's hand but made no move to take it. Jack made a slight face; apparently this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd assured James and Mare it was going to be, taking into consideration his sparkling personality and all. But undeterred Jack continued to try and draw the man into conversation, and the man continued to refuse to be drawn in. Jack finally had to admit defeat, although his mind….and ego refused to use that particular word, they chose to see it as a mere setback to be overcome at a later time. "Well good day to ya then mate. Perhaps I'll see ya around again." Jack said and swayed off to where James and Mare were sitting together across the park.

"Well?" James asked as Jack approached.

"Bugger! Bloody git's as stuffy and stick up the arse as you……" as James' mouth began to thin into that "haughty Commodore-ly look" Jack quickly added with much fluttering of hands and wiggling of fingers, "…used to be….hundreds of years ago you understand………not that you'd be still retainin any of that now as it were….." he faded out as Mare began to chuckle, "I told you it wouldn't work."

James huffed a bit before interjecting, "We need to find some way of befriending him, we have to find out where he keeps those documents."

"Seems ta me it would be much easier for Murphy to snap his fingers and find out the hiding place for us." Jack said poutily.

"Mr. Murphy is not a magician as you well know and is unable to do that as you were informed when we accepted this mission, ergo it is up to us to find and remove said documents from Mr. Fogle's possession before he realizes just what those documents are capable of producing, or worse, they fall into the wrong hands." James snipped.

"He's leaving." Mare said, "I say we call it quits for tonight and go get some supper. We can come back tomorrow, and perhaps I will have better luck with him."

"Absolutely not!" James protested loudly.

Mare turned and looked at him, almost allowed herself to shout in return, then took a deep breath, smiled and patted him on the arm and said quietly, "We will talk about this back at the motel James." Before he could reply she headed for their car.

To Be Continued

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	2. Chapter 2

A Mission is Undertaken

Chapter 2

"You owe her an apology." Jack said as he and James watched Mare walk off ahead of them and enter the motel room.

"I was stating my opinion on the matter; I see no need to apologize for that." James huffed.

"No ya wouldn't would ya." Jack retorted. "Tell me James, do you remember a certain Bonny Lass we were both fortunate, and in a certain few matters unfortunate enough to be acquainted with in a previously lived life?"

"Elizabeth, yes." James replied.

"Then you'll probably be more than able to recall how your _statements of opinions_, or my own _statements of opinion_, or her Da's or even der William's _statements of opinions_ went over with her. And in fact said _statements of opinions_ when differing from her own more often than not sent her off about doing the very thing that was not wanted for her to go about doing. I'd be choosing my words and attitude in dealing with Mare with a bit more care if I were you. 'Absolutely not!' are words that came no where close to working with Lizzie, and will come no closer to working with Mare either. Seems to me you'd be wise to set a different course than the one you're presently following. Savvy?"

James stood there for a moment mulling over Jack's words, then a slight smile worked at the corners of his mouth as he set off for the room, "After due consideration I would surmise I do owe Mare an apology."

"Aye, now that's a much more better attitude James." Jack said as he swayed along after James.

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Dwane walked up to the company mailbox where each slot was neatly labeled with an employee's name. He pulled a large manila envelope and several single sheets of company letterhead out of his and turned to head for his work area.

"Dwane, I've been meaning to come and see you." Mr. Davenport, the head of his department said as he approached. "I haven't received any progress reports from you lately. How is the research going? I do hope you are _making_ some progress Dwane."

Dwane looked up briefly at Mr. Davenport, self consciously pushed his glasses up his nose, and then looked back down at the items in his hand. In a tone pitched low and full of trepidation he replied, "Yes Mr. Davenport."

"You will have a report for me by lunch then." said more as demand than request.

Dwane's "Yes Mr. Davenport" was lost to the man's retreating back.

A few minutes later Dwane entered his lab, tossed the papers and envelope on his desk where they immediately became part of the jumble and clutter already there, and walked over to stare absently at several Petri dishes sitting on the countertop, his mind still occupied with Mr. Davenport's statement. He mumbled to himself as he assembled the equipment he would be using, "I don't know where he gets off talking to me like that. It's not like I haven't benefited this company in the past more than once. This project has turned out to be more difficult than thought. I can't just snap my fingers and make it happen because he wants it. He doesn't like me and he is treating me this way because of that. I might just come up with something that would set this whole company on its ear, maybe the whole world, then no one would dare treat me like they have."

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James and Mare sat snuggled comfortably together on the couch having come to a compromise over their differing views about Mare approaching Mr. Fogle the following day, said compromise leaning heavily toward Mare's opinion of how it would go, not so much as James had envisioned it. James, although having the ability to be quite stubborn at times was also wise enough to see when it profited him, especially when considering the long term effects in dealing with a certain person who could be every bit as stubborn as him, to quit the battle, admit defeat, and be happy with the small concessions he had been able to obtain during the 'discussion'. Jack was sitting in the overstuffed chair opposite them perusing the newspaper. "Ah! Here we have something. Perhaps since the mood between the two of you has greatly improved you might be interested in taking in the offering at the local movie house. I've seen this particular movie a time or two and it was a bit entertaining all in all. Bout a man and his best friend he conversates with…who happens to be a mule.

"Yes, I know the movie you're talking about. There was a whole series of them back in the 1950's…..well since we are now in the 1950's I suppose I should rephrase that." Mare said with a smile. "But you are right Jack; it would make an agreeable way to pass the time." Turning to James she said, "What do you think James? It might be fun."

James snorted a bit and with a snarky smile on his face he looked at Jack and replied, "A man talking to a jackass. No need to go to the movies, I live that every day."

To Be Continued

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4


	3. Chapter 3

A Mission is Undertaken

Chapter 3

The first day Mare, dressed in a simple dull grey skirt and blouse, thick rimmed glasses, her hair pulled back in a bun, and carrying a copy of The Yale Scientific Magazine under her arm simply walked passed with a slight nod as she took a seat on a nearby bench and began to read. The second day she did much the same except after a few minutes she did pause in her reading to watch Dwayne feeding the birds, and catch his eye for a moment, a moment in which they both pushed their glasses up on their respective noses. The third day she added a self-conscious smile to the routine, and the fourth day she spoke. Being careful to keep her tone and actions in a manner that would not do anything to alienate the man she asked, "Do you come here every day?"

Dwayne looked over at her and nodded, then quietly spoke himself, "That magazine…..do you find it interesting?"

Mare smiled shyly, "I do, even though I've been told I'd be better off investing my time in reading Good Housekeeping."

Dwayne pushed his glasses up and stared at Mare for a few moments before replying, "Did you read the article that was published in there a few months ago by Charles Hapgood and James Campbell on their theory of the effect of polar ice on the crust of the earth? Even though that's not my area of research I found it interesting."

Mare peered at him with surprise as she slowly got up and moved over to sit on the end of the bench he was occupying. With a tone full of awe she asked, "Are you a scientist?"

With a shrug of his shoulders and a push at his glasses he tossed another handful of seeds to the birds and answered, "I am involved in some very important research concerning…." So flummoxed by the attention from this woman he almost didn't catch himself in time before he violated the secrecy clause he had signed with his employer, "….well let me just say it is very important research."

Mare leaned forward a bit watching closely to make sure she wasn't spooking the man, then spoke, "That is fascinating. The only scientist I have ever met before, and I didn't actually get to meet him I just attended one of his lectures, was Francis Crick."

Dwayne seemed to warm a bit at this, and leaned forward a bit himself, "Yes, DNA research, very similar to my……"and again he had to silence himself. He pushed his glasses up and sat back.

Mare, seeing the opportunity to get close to this man slipping away quickly grasped the first thing that popped into her mind to keep the conversation going and keep the man from closing up, "Would you like to go have a cup of coffee with me?"

Dwayne looked at her totally startled, he had never been asked to go anywhere with anyone, well other than his Mamma. And this woman was semi-attractive, or would be with a different hair-do and some different clothes. He laughed to himself, 'Look to yourself Dwayne, you hardly have any business judging others.'

"Well?" Mare asked self-consciously.

"What is your name? I'm Dwayne."

"Mare…Meredith."

Calling on all his courage Dwayne answered with a shy smile, "I think I would like to go have a cup of coffee with you...Meredith. There is a little coffee shop just a couple of blocks from here. I've only been there once but it seems like it would be a nice quiet place to talk."

Meredith returned the smile, all the while knowing James would be going absolutely crazy when she got up and left the park in the company of Dwayne Fogle. Well it couldn't be helped even though she had promised James she would stay within sight of him. They had a mission to accomplish and if it meant leaving the park with this man to have a cup of coffee and get him to talk then James would just have to deal with it.

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James hadn't taken his eyes off Mare since arriving at the park. For the past four days he and Jack had taken up a position on a bench that gave them a clear view of Mare, yet was far enough away not to be conspicuous.

"I'm thinkin these avicularish little buggers are startin to like old Jack."

Looking briefly over at Jack who was smiling and throwing seeds to the birds gathered around their feet he snorted a bit and retorted, "I assure you it is the seed they like, not _old Jack_. No doubt as soon as the elderly gentleman that just arrived over there opens up his bag of seed most of your admirers will be off to sample his offerings."

Jack gave James a bit of a faux pout, "Always with the snark aren't ya James."

James gave him a little smirk, "So sorry, it is just too hard to resist. And you do make a point of interjecting your own snark; it is not like you are defenseless in that regard."

"Aye, there is that." Jack said with a smile, then eyed the elderly gentleman James had mentioned, leaned down toward the birds and wiggling his fingers a bit as he spoke, "Now my little darlings, just so ya know, and I swear to you on pain of death every word I'm about to impart to you is the truth that senectitude-ously inclined personage over yonder don't have near the quality nor quantity of ingestibles that old Jack'd be offering you. And it would be to your advantage to take advantage of what I'm offering you here rather than be scurrying off over there. Savvy?"

James snorted again, "I am sure that has done wonders in convincing them Jack, ever the silver tongued devil you are."

A few minutes later as the elderly gentleman opened his sack of bird seed and began tossing it out a good three fourths of the birds headed over for him.

Jack shot him a look and started to grumble, but before he had gotten more than a word or two out of his mouth out of the corner of his eye he caught James' posture suddenly straightening to one of being

'at attention', or at least as much at attention as he could while remaining, for the moment anyway, in a seated position, a curse leaving his lips as he did. Jack looked questioningly at James, and then his eyes followed the direction James was looking, where Mare and Dwayne were walking off together.

"Oh bugger!" Jack swore.

James had already started to rise to his feet, and Jack was barely able to keep him in a sitting position. James cursed again, "Bloody hell! Where does she think she's going?" Then glaring over at Jack and trying to shake his arm free he snapped, "Let go of me!"

"Can't do it James, we've got to stay anonymous. You can't go charging over there and spoil what progress the lass appears to be making."

"I will not sit here and allow her to go off to who knows where with that man!" James growled.

The pressure on James' arm increased a little as Jack leaned over and in a very serious tone said, "That's exactly what you are going to do James, because the success of the mission outweighs any jealousy you might be feeling over the current circumstances, aye?"

James dropped his head and closed his eyes, taking in several deep breaths before answering a few moments later in a tone that sounded of dejection, "You are right; I cannot risk the mission regardless of my personal feelings."

Jack smiled and patted James on the back, "Aye, much more better that. Now James, as soon as you've taken your mind out of the jealous, wanting to throttle mode and put it in more of a sneaky and stealthy mode we'll be off to do a bit of roco…..rico….raco…"

James rolled his eyes and provided the word he assumed Jack was searching for and failing to find, "reconnoitering."

Jack gave him a wide smile and a flutter of hands, "Aye that's it. We'll be about doin that."

To Be Continued

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	4. Chapter 4

A Mission is Undertaken

Chapter 4

Mare, in the past couple of weeks, had advanced the relationship with Dwayne to the point they would sit side by side on the bench in the park feeding the birds for awhile before adjourning to one of the nearby restaurants or coffee houses for supper, and had gotten the man to open up quite a bit to her. She had even instigated a bit of awkward handholding between them, mainly awkward on Dwayne's part, it was evident he had not experienced much of this type of interaction with a member of the opposite sex before. And even though she knew it meant nothing to her and was done for the good of the mission she still felt a bit awkward herself knowing James was watching. When she, James, and Jack had returned to the motel room after the first time she had tentatively reached over and taken Dwayne's hand in hers as they sat on the bench James had done his best to stay mum about how that had affected him, but there was still an slight undercurrent of uneasiness in the air, in fact more than once as they sat together on the couch watching the television before turning in Mare had heard him, quietly, under his breath, repeating, 'It was done for the good of the mission'. She smiled a bit to herself, she hadn't realized until this mission that he had a teensy bit of a jealous streak among his many other fine and more outstanding attributes. Reaching over and lightly squeezing his hand with hers she turned to smile at him and give him a little peck on the cheek, "How about some M&M's?"

He looked at her for a moment, returned the hand squeeze and a little smile of his own, "I would like that very much."

She gave him another peck on the cheek then headed for the little kitchenette at one end of their motel room.

Jack got up and followed her. As she opened one of the small cupboards and pulled a bag of M&M's and a bowl out he leaned over and whispered, "He was near beside himself when the two of you went to clasping hands luv. Was all I could do to keep him from marchin right over and blowin the whole mission….'n perhaps committing some grievous acts leaning toward the physically violent type against Mr. Dwayne Fogle as well." He leaned back, eyed the bowl now filled with candy, popped a handful into his mouth, and after a few moments of very audibly crunching and chewing of said candy tapped his chin in thought, he leaned back over toward her and added with a wiggling of fingers, "Just so you know, don't think I'd have the least bit of luck containing him, short of an act of violence on me own part, which I'd be loath to commit against him you understand, if it was to turn to more than the touching of hands or to kissing or some such as that, savvy?" Without waiting for an answer he grabbed another handful of candy and swayed back to his seat.

Mare stood there for a few moments, Jack had just put a voice to the very concerns that had been kept shoved to the very back of her mind since she had taken over the role of 'working' Dwayne Fogle to accomplish the mission. Well there was nothing for it. The mission had to be accomplished or millions of people would be put at risk. She would just have to hope if that particular scenario came about James would be able to draw on his inner strength and resolve and not react in the manner his emotions would no doubt be screaming at him to react in. Either that or perhaps Jack could take to carrying a length of very stout rope around with him. A wry smile briefly graced her mouth before she gave her head a little shake, picked up the bowl of M&M's and went back to sit by James. She settled down next to him, setting the bowl of M&M's in his lap and snuggling her head against his shoulder. He gave the top of her head a little kiss and took a handful of candy from the bowl. He sat there, candy in hand, then leaned down to her ear and spoke softly, "Just because I _act _a fool at times does not _make_ me a fool."

She moved her head to peer up into his eyes, "You are far from a fool James."

"Well I am glad to know we at least share that opinion." He replied dryly before popping a couple of M&M's into her mouth. "The man who invented these little delights should be made a god." He said as he popped a few into his own mouth. Chewing them thoughtfully for a bit he spoke again, his voice low, as if considering the words he was saying as he spoke them, "You understand it has been ages ago since I have had to engage my stoic and unflappable persona to the degree this mission is evidently going to call for."

Mare nodded and James popped a few more M&M's into her mouth as well as his own before continuing in a more determined tone, "And although I no longer hold the rank and station of Commodore in the service of the Royal Navy, I am still James L Norrington, still possess the inner control and discipline I learned through out my life, and am fully capable of carrying out any mission I am charged with completing."

"Well spoke James." Jack interjected cheerfully as he rose up a little from where he sat across from them and grabbed a handful of candy.

James gave him an 'Oh please' roll of his eyes, cleared his throat, and continued, his eyes meeting Mare's as he spoke sincerely, "I shall endeavor from this moment forward, until said mission is completed, to act in a manner that will enhance the successful outcome of said mission, refrain from allowing my personal feelings to interfere in any manner what so ever, and offer you the support needed in handling your part in the mission in any way you see fit. Ergo you no longer need worry about my reactions to certain interactions between you and Mr. Foley that may come about."

Mare smiled and moved to wrap her arms around him, almost spilling the bowl of M&M's sitting in his lap. Fortunately a quick thinking and reacting Jack grabbed the bowl just in time and settled it in his own lap. As James and Mare held each other and began kissing Jack gave them a moue, "Got enough sugar between the two of you to make a person that happens to be in any manner of an observation atorial position right sick the two of you do, almost as bad as the Turners used to be, and since it seems old Jack won't be sharing in that particular sugary treat," he said as his eyes moved to consider the bowl in his lap, "I'll just be eating _all_ this candy _all_ by me onsies."

To Be Continued

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	5. Chapter 5

A Mission is Undertaken

Chapter 5

Mare couldn't quite put her finger on why this few minutes of silence seemed different. It was not unusual, when they were sitting together feeding the birds, for Dwayne to go for several minutes without talking. She threw another handful of seed and looked at Dwayne out of the corner of her eye and immediately noticed one thing that was unusual, Dwayne was not feeding the birds, Dwayne was sitting there staring off toward the other side of the park, his face clearly showing he was deep in thought.

She was about to speak, to say something to catch his attention when he suddenly turned to her and said, "What are you doing here? Why are you here..with me? What do you want from me?"

Mare was taken by surprise for a moment as all manner of reasons he would ask those particular questions went rampant in her head. But the next moment she quashed them and her quick mind came up with a response. Giving him a shy smile as she self-consciously worried her hands in her lap she said, "I enjoy your company Dwayne, I thought you enjoyed mine as well."

Dwayne stared at her, and she continued to give him the shy self-conscious treatment till he dropped his eyes, pushed his glasses up on his nose, cleared his throat and said, "I do enjoy your company Meredith." Then looking up at her he hesitated a moment before an emotionally charged rush of words exploded from his mouth, "I do enjoy your company and I really like you Meredith would you like to see my lab I really would like to show it to you and even though I'm not suppose to bring anyone there you are special Meredith and you are interested in a lot of the same things I am and I think you might be interested in what I'm working on and even though it's supposed to be highly classified I think I can trust you and I'd like for you to see and then maybe we could go to my apartment for supper afterwards if you want to I really like you Meredith and I hope you like me in the same way too."

She reached over and patted his hand, stalling a bit as she sorted out the jumble of words he had just thrown at her, then smiled and replied, "I would love to see your lab Dwayne."

He smiled happily as she answered, then suddenly the smile fell from his face.

"What is it Dwayne?" Mare asked.

"I forgot about the security guard. He won't think anything about me being there after hours, I do that quite often, but if he sees you it would be trouble." Dwayne answered dejectedly, his shoulders slumped in defeat, not even bothering to push the glasses up that had slid down his nose. He really did want to impress her with just how important the project he was working on was and how important he was for his contribution to it.

"I take it there is only one guard on duty then?" Mare asked.

Dwayne looked up at her as he answered, "Yes, there are usually two but they fired Pryce a couple of days ago for sleeping on duty and haven't replaced him yet."

Mare, borrowing for a moment a bit of shtick she had come to know quite well from a certain close associate, gave Dwayne a wide grin, fluttered her hands in the air in front of her and said confidently, "Well no worries then, I am very good at doing stealthy. That guard will never know I'm there. Savvy?"

Dwayne looked at her a bit strangely, "Savvy?"

Mare waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, "Just forget that part ok? I guess that was a bit over the top….. Now when do I get to see your lab?"

Dwayne consulted his wristwatch and said, "Everyone should pretty much be gone by 7:00, we can go then."

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James and Jack had taken up their usual position in the park when Mare went to meet with Dwayne, Jack feeding the birds, James watching the interaction between Mare and Mr. Fogle, although in a much more relaxed manner, not with near the jealous and protective fervor as he had before, determined to follow through with his promise of the previous night. A promise that had turned out to bring an entirely enjoyable evening spent with Mare in his arms. He smiled as he remembered just how much more enjoyable the evening had become once they had adjourned to the small bedroom, leaving Jack, and his chocolate, to fend for himself. James couldn't resist pinching a handful of the M&Ms as he and Mare walked past arm in arm on their way to said bedroom, a smile on his face, which caused Jack to stick out his tongue and give him a very pouting expression and clutch the bowl close to his chest as he grumbled, "No fair, my chocolate, you get the girl mate."

James' daydreaming was abruptly interrupted by Jack smacking him on the arm and in a highly offended tone saying, "Oye there, lookit that now!" James tried, with a bit of difficulty, to judge just exactly which direction Jack's wildly fluttering hands were supposedly pointing in and was finally able to deduce he was pointing in Mare and Mr. Fogle's direction, "What is it Jack?" he asked, not seeing anything going on between them that should be causing concern.

"Don't tell me it isn't clear to you just what your bonny lass is up to over there." Jack said, his tone still sounding highly offended.

James, still looking in Mare and Dwayne's direction and seeing no reason for Jack's outrage retorted, "No, I am afraid it is not at all clear just what you think my _bonny lass_ is up to other than what we have clearly known all along she was up to." Turning to look at Jack once again he said, "Just what is it you are going on about?"

Jack took his eyes off the couple sitting on the bench and peered at James, highly offended, "You're telling me you don't see that?"

James rolled his eyes, "Yes, I am in fact telling you I do not see 'that' whatever 'that' is."

"You're telling me you don't………" Jack began to say again, the outrage still in his tone when James aggravatedly turned on the bench to fully face him and said with more than a bit of irritation, "Just what is it you think is going on over there?"

The puppy dog expression that in an instant covered his countenance was one truly deserving of some kind of award as he answered, "She's clearly mocking me, making sport, deriding me with mimicry."

"Oh please," James snorted as he looked back at Mare, and clearly caught the tail end of a finely executed and most definite Jack mannerism. He snorted again and said, "Well I would have to say in this instance you may be right." He paused as he fought down the impulse to laugh, then continued in a most serious tone, "But if I were you I would look at it as imitation being the sincerest form of flattery."

Jack looked at James and then over at the couple with suspicion. Cocking his head to the side a bit he asked, "And you think that's how she's meaning it then?"

James turned back to look in Mare and Dwayne's direction as a smirk appeared on his face and he replied, "Oh I'm sure that is _exactly_ how she means it."

To Be Continued

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	6. Chapter 6

A Mission is Undertaken

Chapter 6

Mare and Dwayne had managed to elude the guard, only having to duck into an alcove once on the way to his lab. Dwayne unlocked the door and they slipped in, he relocked the door once they were safely inside, flipped the light switch, and turned to Mare with a smile, "I think we should be able to turn the lights on in here now. Mr. Hollander shouldn't be making any security checks in this part of the building for about another hour and we will probably be gone by then."

She returned his smile, "Oh yes, we surely will. Now I do recognize some of your equipment, but tell me what you are working on here."

Dwayne puffed himself up with an important air as he answered, "Well I can't tell you specifically about just what I'm working on you understand, it's all classified….but I don't think it would hurt to give you a little information about the project, after all it's not like you are going to go out and modify and mutate your own little snippit of DNA." He hadn't even realized in his fervor to impress Mare he had given quite a bit away, or would have if Mare hadn't already been aware of what he, and his employers, were working on.

"Oh yes, I understand Dwayne." Mare answered. She began to slowly walk around the room, stopping often to ask about various groups of test tubes, or Petri dishes, or microscopes and slides sitting on countertops around the lab. As she paused by one group of Petri dishes Dwayne surprised her by walked over and taking a hold of her arm, and with a strange far away look in his eye spoke as if he were speaking to himself, not even aware Mare was there, "People don't understand, not even the people who run this company, how much power one person could have over all of them if just the right combination of modifications and mutations were introduced to the contents of some of these innocent looking test tubes and Petri dishes. They have no idea the extreme alterations to the human race that could be wrought, the terminal diseases that could be spread. A person with the right knowledge could rule the world." The next moment he released Mare's arm, and the far away look had left his eyes. When he spoke again it was clear he didn't realize what had just transpired. "Would you like some tea? I usually keep some here; make it over the Bunsen burner."

Mare was trying to school her expression, keep it normal rather than allow the horrified look that wanted to take over her face appear. "Tea sounds lovely Dwayne."

He smiled and nodded and walked across the lab and began preparing the tea. Mare took the chance while his back was turned to intently peruse the room for any sign of the envelope of documents they were after. She glanced at Dwayne every few moments to make sure he was still occupied as she surreptitiously opened drawers and looked through stacks of papers lying scattered around the lab, finally making her way over to his desk. She almost let out an 'Ah Ha!' as she spotted the large envelope Mr. Murphy had described to them lying half buried under the conglomeration of other papers thrown on the desk. She considered trying to conceal it on her person while Dwayne was still occupied with the tea but almost instantly realized the size of it prohibited that. There was no place she could hide it about her person it wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb.

"Here you are Meredith." Dwayne said as he offered her one of the cups of tea he was holding. "I hope you don't take cream or sugar, I don't have any of that handy." Then trying in his own way to make a joke he laughed a little as he added, "Although I'm sure I could find something around the lab to add to it if you really want to change the taste."

"Oh no, this is fine." Mare said trying to return his smile as she took a sip.

"I saw you looking at the papers on my desk; did you see something that interested you? I might be able to explain it to you if you did."

Her quick mind kicked into gear as she smiled innocently at him and answered, "I was just amazed at the amount of paperwork you must be required to do. I guess I never thought a scientist would have so much, just imagined it would be all working with Petri dishes and watching the results develop."

Dwayne puffed himself up in his important stature once again, "Oh no, not at all. There are reports to write, on the progress or lack of for each experiment to give to my employers, and the hypotheses and rationale for each experiment and then formulas and equations and….well the paperwork is a major part of the job."

Mare knew she would not be walking out of the lab with the envelope, they would have to break in to obtain it, and there was no reason to waste any more time here now, in fact she was really quite anxious to get out of here and back to James. She glanced at her watch, then up at Dwayne, "It's about time for the security guard to come back, perhaps we had better make our exit now rather than take the chance on him finding me here."

Dwayne glanced at his own watch and with a bit of disappointment in his voice said, "I suppose you are right." He added with a little hope in his tone, "We could go to my place, I could make you a much better cup of tea there."

She smiled at him, "I'm afraid this sneaking around has tired me out more than I thought. Maybe we could have supper at your house tomorrow night?"

"Alright, I can fix the goulash my Mother used to fix for me. Would that be ok?"

She patted him on the arm and then took his arm and directed him toward the door, "It sounds absolutely wonderful Dwayne."

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"You know you are not, strictly speaking, sticking to the terms of your agreement that you so readily agreed to with the bonny Mare when said maiden made clear the fact that the agreeing to that very thing would get you much more better things than a grateful smile from her if said agreement was in fact reached." Jack said from where he sat in the overstuffed chair.

James replied a bit haughtily, "I agreed not to allow the tendency for my jealous and protective nature to interfere with the mission because I did not have the right to impede the mission with it. Ergo my decision to come to an accord with Mare was not influenced in the least because she may have inferred there might be other benefits or advantage to doing such. I reached said accord with her because I love her and wanted to make her happy."

Jack smiled and waved a hand about as he retorted, "Tell it anyway you want James, we both know you caved when she started casting those _come hither_ eyes at you." After a pause he added with a nod and an even bigger smile on his face, "Though can't blame you for that, you lasted a lot longer than I would have in the same situation."

To Be Continued

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	7. Chapter 7

A Mission is Undertaken

Chapter 7

"I saw the envelope Mr. Murphy described; it was on Dwayne's desk half buried under some other papers. The good thing is he hasn't opened it yet, the bad thing is there was no way for me to sneak it out. We really need to go tonight and retrieve it, before he does open it." Mare said as she came in the motel room and plopped down beside James.

Whether it was something in her tone, or just the fact he was becoming more attuned to her the longer he was around her he knew something had happened while she had been in Dwayne's presence that had upset her. His expression as well as his tone showed concern as he looked closely at her, "There is something else you are not saying."

"Oh James," Mare replied as she let out a deep breath, "He was talking all this crazy stuff. I know Mr. Murphy said he was a threat, but until I saw his face….his eyes as he said the things he did I half thought maybe Murphy was exaggerating a little. I know he wasn't now; Dwayne Fogle is every bit the threat Mr. Murphy said he was, if not more. We really do need to get those documents; we need to get them tonight."

"Murphy did stress the fact those documents were the catalyst in sendin Mr. Fogle over the edge and sending a couple hundred thousand or so innocent people to their graves before he was stopped. A few of them working right there in that same building, who if they hadn't died by Fogle's hand, would have gone on to do a great amount of good for the world as far as curing diseases and making life a bit better for people." Jack interjected.

"Well we should be about it then." James said as he stood. "Mare, you can tell us about the layout of the building and the guard on the way."

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"Oye there! Are the two of you coming or are you going to stand there and make moony faces at each other while old Jack does what needs to be done?" Jack stage whispered at them from the corner of the building.

James leaned over and gave Mare a peck on the cheek, "I suppose we had better humor him, otherwise we take the chance of him pouting at us for the next week."

Mare giggled a bit as she gave James a return peck on the cheek then Jack a thumbs up sign as she and James, hand in hand, stealthily moved over to join him.

They made their way around the corner of the building to a service door. Jack smiled at James and Mare as he pulled a slim piece of metal out of his pocket, waved it around it the air a bit, and then went to work on the door lock. A few moments later he gave them a wide smile as a soft clicking sound came from the lock and with a triumphant flourish of one hand he turned the knob with his other and opened the door.

They entered quickly and with Mare taking the lead made their way down the dark hallway with only the weak light cast by a few high placed marker signs along the wall for illumination. She glanced at her watch as she stopped in front of a door marked as a stairway, "According to what I garnered from Dwayne the guard should be making rounds at the other end of the building now, we should have about ten minutes or so to make it to the lab, get the envelope, and get out."

"More than enough time." Jack said cheerfully, "Been in and out of more perilous situations than this in half that time."

James rolled his eyes and snorted, "Which we shall _not _be if we stand here and allow you to begin regaling us with any of those more than highly exaggerated exploits."

Jack gave him a pouty look in return and was about to retort when Mare opened the door to the stairwell and gave them both a push through, "Come on _boys_, there will be time for you to snipe at each other after we get what we came for."

Jack settled, for the time being, for making a face and quickly sticking his tongue out at James' back.

They made their way up several floors and down several hallways, only having to backtrack once when Mare took a wrong turn, and finally found themselves at the door to Dwayne's lab. Jack again produced the 'key' and within moments they were in. Mare went immediately to the desk and picked up the envelope, "Here it is, now let's get out of here."

They were headed for the door when they heard the guard coming down the hall, and all three at once realized in their haste they had failed to close the door when they entered.

"Hide!" Jack hissed at them as he made wild flopping motions at them with his arms and moved in a rather ataxic manner to conceal himself behind the open door looking around for something to use as a weapon as he did.

James and Mare wasted no time in hiding themselves, although if the guard came in and turned the light on they would probably be readily visible.

"Mr. Fogle?" the guard called from just outside the door, "Mr. Fogle, you in here?" He stepped into the doorway and swept his flashlight around the room. Cautiously he stepped further into the room and again flashed his light around.

Jack, flattened up against the wall behind the door mouthed to himself, 'just a little bit farther mate, aye that's it, just a few more steps will do it, that's it another step or two.' As the guard cleared the edge of the door Jack lunged forward and cracked him in the head with the small electronic scale he had picked up off the counter beside him. As the guard fell to the floor dazed by the strike Jack called over his shoulder as he exited the lab, "Time to go!"

James and Mare were right on his heels.

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Mr. Murphy was there as they exited the net. "Congratulations on another mission accomplished." He said as he took the documents from Mare. "You have saved thousands of lives with the procurement of these documents."

"So what happened to Dwayne? And surely there must have been an investigation at the lab after we were forced to knock the guard out?" Mare asked.

Murphy replied, "Yes there was an investigation, during which it was discovered that Mr. Fogle was conducting experiments on his own that were not sanctioned by the company he worked for, and in fact were highly illegal. During questioning by the authorities Mr. Fogle's less than stable mental state was brought to light and he was court admitted to one of the more secure mental facilities until such time as he was judged competent to be released, which in fact will never happen. As far as the 'break in' there was certain evidence that came to the attention of the authorities and it was concluded that Mr. Fogle, in his diminished mental capacity had staged it himself. And by the way the person who sent Mr. Fogle those documents has been put out of action as well."

"Just what do those documents contain Mr. Murphy?" James asked.

"I'm afraid the documents themselves would be incomprehensible to any but the most highly trained Mr. Norrington. I will tell you in part they contain a proposal from the sender suggesting he and Mr. Fogle combine their research, as well as enough information the sender had accumulated in his own research to persuade Mr. Fogle if they were to join forces, so to speak, they could indeed 'rule the world'."

"So to sum it all up we've succeeded in putting a mentally questionable person capable of doing great harm where he'll do no harm not to mention saving all those souls that would have been uselessly lost. Not a bad bit of work if I do say so myself, which I in fact have just done as it were. So what would we be up to next?" Jack interjected.

"I was thinking perhaps you would like to visit North Dakota." Mr. Murphy replied.

The End

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